The Dreamers by Karen Thompson Walker explores the idea of dreams, mass hysteria and sudden illness. Santa Lora is a college town located on the edge of a lake. So small that there’s only one way in…and out.

Amber Reynolds finds herself in the hospital after an accident. She finds that she can’t move, speak or even open her eyes. She can, however, feel and hear everything that is going on around her. She finds that she can’t remember why she’s in the hospital, but she has a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with her husband, Paul.

A few months before their wedding Marnie meets Blix, Noah’s eccentric aunt, who everyone in Noah’s family thinks is a nutcase. During their encounter Blix becomes convinced that Marnie has big things going for her. Marnie’s marriage falls apart after just two weeks and shortly following that, her job.